


Loyalty

by Dusklatte



Series: Before five years pass [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sexual Content, F/F, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Grief/Mourning, Major Character Injury, Mostly based during the timeskip, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Semi-established relationship, Timeskip Edeleth, descriptions of injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:13:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26650507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklatte/pseuds/Dusklatte
Summary: “I would like to know... Do you have any regrets with siding with me?”Once more, Byleth stopped what she was doing. “What? No, I have no regrets at all.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Before five years pass [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873558
Comments: 17
Kudos: 89





	1. Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> So... I just want to prefix this with the fact that I am not completely used to writing Edeleth - this is my first proper attempt at it (I believe!).
> 
> After I posted a fic a good few months back about a relationship between Byleth and Claude during the timeskip where Byleth is found and healed up not long after the start of the timeskip and she is present for it. Not long after posting that fic I got the idea of doing something similar for the other three house leaders (Edel, Dimitri, and Yuri) as well as maybe Seteth. This is the version with Edelgard!

So much had happened over the past few weeks. Byleth could barely comprehend all of the events which just seemed to be coming all at once.

First had been her change. Sothis had granted her power, but at the cost of her presence. Now her hair had turned a pale green colour, as had her eyes. It bothered her every time that she saw her reflection, not having her usual deep blue hair and eyes. It... was unsettling.

Then Rhea had almost attached herself to her. It was almost as though she was expecting something to happen. She could barely do her usual day-to-day business without the Archbishop’s eyes falling upon her.

Then there was the incident at the Holy Tomb... Rhea had made her sit on a throne, before she turned angry that nothing happened. As it turned out... Rhea had been wanting Sothis to take her place. That she was simply just a vessel to the Goddess, and had no worth beyond that.

That led to the betrayal. Edelgard had attacked the tomb with Imperial forces. Once that was finished, Rhea had ordered her to kill Edelgard. But why would she remain with one who saw her as nothing more than a tool, and something to be used? She sided with her students. She still had faint scratch marks down her arm from when Rhea had tried to grab hold of her as Hubert warped everyone from the Black Eagles away.

Two weeks later was the declaration of war. The Adrestian Empire had officially turned their backs on the Church of Seiros.

The Black Eagle Strike Force had been established. The key members were the former Black Eagles, with Edelgard as the leader, and Byleth as the commander. No longer was she a Professor.

And now, it was three days before their initial assault against the Church of Seiros.

Byleth was sat at the Imperial Outpost which had been the Strike Force's home and base of operations for the past moon, currently in the process of sharpening her dagger. Beside her, Edelgard was similarly maintaining her axe.

“Professor, may I ask you a question?” Edelgard asked after a solid ten minutes of silence.

Byleth stopped what she was doing when she was addressed, before quietly sighing. “I am no professor now, Edelgard. I’m just Byleth, your friend and ally. But if you want to ask a question, go ahead,” she smiled, turning her attention back to her dagger.

“I apologise, I shall do my best to call you by your name from now on, Byleth,” she nodded, before looking at how closely she was tending to the small weapon. “I would like to know... Do you have any regrets with siding with me?”

Once more, Byleth stopped what she was doing. “What? No, I have no regrets at all. In my opinion, this is the right side. If I had to choose between you, and being _used_ by Rhea as a vessel for a Goddess, I would choose you every time,” Byleth stated, before looking at the dagger. “I do wish I had gone to see my parents' grave before all of this happened, but there is nothing to be done about that now. There was a reason why my father shielded me from the Church... I just found out too late. Far, far too late.”

Edelgard nodded along, before holding her hand out to have a look at the dagger herself. “This is fine craftsmanship, and is very well maintained, Byleth. I noticed you have had this even before we met, and kept it with you all the time.”

“A gift from my father, after my first successful job as one of his mercenaries. I treasured it all these years, and aside from his diary and my mother’s ring, it is all I have left to remind me of him,” Byleth explained, taking the dagger back and returning it to its sheath. She then crossed her legs over, and rested her hands on her higher knee. “No doubt when we face Rhea on the battlefield, she will try to rile me up by making a remark about him to force me into acting against her. I won’t let her do that... And I won’t allow my father’s attempts to protect me from her to be in vain. She caused enough problems when I was born...”

For a moment, Edelgard listened to her words in silence, surprised at the amount of anger she could hear in the former professor's voice. But the last comment confused her. “What problems are you speaking of?”

Byleth lowered her head, before pulling her mother’s ring out and fidgeted with it between her fingers. “You already know that my mother died in childbirth... But did you know that Rhea did something to me at some point after I was born but before I was given to my father...?” she placed the ring down, before taking hold of her shirt and pulling it down slightly, revealing a faint scar on her chest. “According to my father, I had this scar on my chest when he first saw me. I don’t know _what_ she did, but obviously _something_ happened. Not long after, he set Garreg Mach alight as a cover to escape with me. Until that day where I met you, Claude, and Dimitri, Rhea assumed that I had died in that fire.”

In silence, Edelgard listened to the story, before placing her hand on the scar with a determined look on her face. “Byleth... We will win this battle together. Perhaps you will be able to get the answer to what has happened to you upon our victory.”

“I certainly hope so.”

* * *

* * *

Edelgard had only become aware of Hubert's shout for Byleth to look out when it was too late.

There was a loud, blood-curdling scream as the Immaculate One attacked the former professor. They could only watch as Byleth was sent flying off the edge of a cliff, her eyes showing the most emotion she ever had done – fear, horror, sadness – as gravity began to pull her down to the rubble below, the Sword of the Creator coming loose from her grasp as she fell.

The Black Eagle Strike Force were horrified. They then turned their anger and grief into the driving force that had helped the Adrestian Empire in emerging victorious in the first of their battles. Garreg Mach was theirs, at the cost of the one who tied them all together.

As the denizens of Garreg Mach were ordered to leave, with vital members of the Church who had not fled being taken into custody (an unsuccessful attempt was made to also apprehend both Dimitri and Claude, to use as leverage for the Kingdom and Alliance to listen to their demands), Edelgard took an isolated stroll across the monastery. Obviously, Hubert was watching from a distance.

Her first stop had been what was once her room. She had left a few minor belongings behind, but paused when she saw the door. It was hanging from its hinges, the room destroyed in its entirety. Not even the furniture was whole any longer. She had reason to believe that this had been Rhea’s doing.

Those belongings which were obviously no longer intact that she sought had no proper usefulness, they were mostly of a sentimental value. _Because they were gifts from Byleth._

In silence, she left the room, before deciding to visit what was once Byleth's room. Much to her surprise, her room was intact. The only damage... was to the gifts which _she_ had given to Byleth. Even the black Eagle charm - a small thing which Byleth kept locked away in a drawer - which had gifted to her upon her birthday had been crushed by some sort of force.

Slowly, she began to look around the room. She wished to have something to help her with remembering Byleth’s courage and sacrifice during the battle which won them the monastery.

It was at this point that Edelgard realised that even as a professor, Byleth had stuck to aspects of her mercenary lifestyle. She had very little in terms of personal belongings. There were clothes, a few books – presumably taken from the libraries of Abyss, as they all had a marking on their covers indicating their removal from Garreg Mach's library – and a few stray swords.

She settled with taking Byleth’s glasses, which she occasionally wore when teaching. It was small and could be kept safe, and was at least enough of a reminder to her of all that Byleth had done.

Edelgard’s final stop on her walk was not a lonely one. She had asked all of the Black Eagle Strike Force to meet her there.

As she descended the steps toward the graveyard, she saw her former classmates assembled. Aside from her, Hubert had been the last one to arrive, warping into place.

Each of them was grieving. Bernadetta was sobbing, clinging onto Caspar as he stared blankly with his fists clenched. Dorothea had her eyes closed, in her hands a delicate bouquet of crimson flowers which she had been asked to gather. Ferdinand was covering his forehead and eyes in a feeble attempt to hide his tears. Linhardt was silently looking towards the headstone that they had gathered by, his disappointment clear. Petra seemed bewildered and shocked. Even Hubert's expression was laced in sadness and regret.

Slowly Edelgard approached the front of the group, taking hold of the flowers from Dorothea and clearing her throat.

“Today has been a successful day. For both the Black Eagle Strike Force, and the Adrestian Empire. However, this has not been without a tragic loss. Our beloved former professor, Byleth Eisner, was killed by the Immaculate One,” she began, lowering her head and sighing. “Before this battle, I asked if she regretted anything about joining our side. She said that she didn’t, but that she wished in hindsight that she had visited her parents' grave before we left Garreg Mach. That is why we are here today...”

There were the sounds of more than just Ferdinand and Bernadetta crying from behind her at this point.

“Today, we, the Black Eagle Strike Force, are honouring her final wishes by visiting the grave of her parents. Jeralt and Sitri Eisner will now have reunited with their daughter, and I hope that they are proud of all that she has done and accomplished during her short life. As a mark of respect for her, and in absence of a body, we place these flowers at this grave.”

Edelgard knelt down, and placed the bouquet onto the cold stone. Even she had tears down her face at this point.

“Byleth... I hope that you have found peace. We all do...”

Each of the Black Eagles paid their own respects once Edelgard had stepped away from the grave. Once Hubert had done his, the emperor quickly called him over to her.

“Before we return to Enbarr, I have but one desire, Hubert,” she stated, doing her absolute best to sound confident, but the cracks in her voice indicating otherwise. “I wish to find Byleth’s body. I refuse to allow somebody so important to us and the Adrestian Empire to simply become a rotting corpse at the bottom of a cliff. She deserves a proper funeral. I wish for her to be buried in Enbarr.”

“Are you wishing for a search party to be sent to recover her body, Lady Edelgard?”

“Yes. I will be required in the capital, but if you and a few others could seek her out...”

“Then it shall be done.”


	2. Retrieval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for the late former professor begins, whilst the Emperor does her best to carry out her duties whilst concealing her grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a somewhat short chapter, and as a warning, there is some descriptions of injuries near to the end of the chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!

After her return to Enbarr, Edelgard did her best to begin her duties as Emperor in earnest. There was a lot for her to do, especially in preparation for the inevitable retaliation from her declaration of war.

She had heard that the key members of the Church of Seiros who hadn’t been apprehended had fled to the Kingdom alongside Dimitri, so stripping the Kingdom of its power was amongst her first priorities, as well as finding ways to control the bordering lands of Ordelia and Gloucester in the Alliance.

Each day, at sunset, she would make sure that she was present in the throne room. That was the time she had settled on with Hubert for receiving a daily report on the search for Byleth’s body.

On the first day, he had warped into the throne room with a grim look on his face. The surroundings matched the mood which came with him, as rain pounded against the stained-glass windows behind her.

“I apologise, Lady Edelgard... There has been no success today. The amount of rubble which we have to dig through was much more extensive than our initial expectations. Ferdinand and Petra are continuing to help with the search, however.” As he finished speaking, the room lit up as lightning struck in the distance, with the rumble of thunder concealing the sigh of sadness from the Emperor as she sat down on the throne.

“I understand. Thank you for the update, Hubert,” she began, taking a deep breath as her hands came to rest on her lap, and dug into the black and crimson silk of the dress she was wearing. “Please do not push yourselves out there. I do not wish to lose any more of our friends and allies, especially not ones as valuable as my former classmates.”

Hubert nodded and bowed, before he muttered under his breath to cast his warp spell to return to Garreg Mach. That left Edelgard alone, and in this moment, able to let out some of the tears of her grief.

On the second day, Hubert had returned, accompanied by Petra, who bore a deep wound on her side. It appeared to have been hastily tended to, but needed to be looked at properly by a medic. Edelgard was quick to call for help for the Brigid princess as she and Hubert quickly provided an update on their search.

“The kingdom... It was attacking us...” Petra had whispered as she was left in the care of healers. Hubert had later elaborated that a patrol from Charon and Galatea territories had gone to scout for the Empire’s presence near to Garreg Mach, and had ambushed the trio. Petra had intercepted an attack meant for Ferdinand, yet had still continued fighting until all of the soldiers had fallen.

Had it not been for Byleth teaching Ferdinand some faith magic when she nominated him to take on the role of dancer back at the Officer’s Academy, Petra would likely have died.

When left alone today, Edelgard felt a horrific mix of sadness and anger. Sadness that Byleth’s body still hadn’t been found, and that a close friend and ally such as Petra had been wounded. Anger that Dimitri, no doubt under the influence of Rhea, had ordered for soldiers to attack the monastery.

On the third day, it was just Ferdinand and Hubert searching, with Petra having been told to rest for a day before re-joining. Hubert had warped into the throne room, the faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“Today, Lady Edelgard... we found this,” he had stated, kneeling down, and presenting something which was wrapped in the Black Eagles banner from the Officer’s Academy.

She accepted it from him, and felt a familiarity from within the material. She carefully unwrapped it, and her eyes widened. The bone-like appearance, the way in which the segments of the object joined and detached, the distinct hole…

“The Sword of the Creator... She had hold of this just before she fell, so she mustn’t be far from where you found this. We are getting close to finding her...”

When Hubert had warped back to Garreg Mach, Edelgard took hold of the sword, and held it out before her. Despite one of her crests being compatible, the weapon did not react. Not in the way it did Byleth, anyway. Had she not had a compatible crest; she likely would have already started receiving damage from the sword.

After a few moments of her looking at the sword held out before her, there was a knock on the door to the throne room. She briskly returned the sword to the banner it had been wrapped in, and placed it safely behind the throne as the door opened.

“Ah, my niece. It is lovely to see you this fine evening. I have something I wish to discuss with you over dinner, if you would care to join me,” was said from by the door, and Edelgard simply stared at her visitor.

“A fine evening to you too, uncle,” she stated, nodding a greeting to Arundel. “If you do not mind, I have something which needs urgent attention before I can join you. I shall meet you at the dining hall as soon as possible.”

Arundel raised his eyebrow at her, but nodded and bowed. “Of course. I shall be waiting.”

Once the door closed, and the Emperor was certain that her uncle had left, she retrieved the sword and frowned. She needed to find somewhere safe and secure to store the weapon, where only she and those she trusted could locate and access.

On the fourth day, there was once again nothing. Both she and Hubert had hoped that with the discovery of Byleth’s sword, today would be the day that her body was found.

It had felt like a dagger to the heart.

Perhaps the Kingdom and Church had sent people to search for her body too, as that could explain why only the sword was found. Rhea had an unspoken but blatantly obvious fascination with Byleth, and there was no doubt she was seeking the late professor too.

On the fifth day, Edelgard was caught by surprise at Ferdinand and Petra suddenly being warped into the throne room in the middle of the day.

“Hubert will be here in a minute, Edelgard...” Ferdinand had muttered, shock evident on his face.

Petra seemed just as shaken, but was able to clarify more. “We have had the success in finding the Professor, but the Professor is... not as we are expecting.”

After a few moments, Hubert had warped into the throne room. Exactly as Petra had said, Byleth was there, limp in his arms. She looked like a broken doll, with how one of her arms and both of her legs were hanging, looking out of shape, clearly broken. She was covered in a variety of bruises, cuts, and fatal-looking wounds in addition to burns from the Immaculate One's attack. Blood coated her pale green hair, dried in places but fresh in others.

But there was no doubting it.

The distinct rising and falling of her chest was there. Proof that she was _alive._

It was more than Edelgard could possibly have hoped for. She had expected a body on the verge of beginning to rot and in need of burying, not this.

“What are we all standing around for then?! Petra, seek out Linhardt – we shall need his expertise in healing magic. Ferdinand, please arrange a room for Byleth to rest in. Hubert, inform the other Black Eagles but swear them to secrecy – we cannot allow word of our discovery to go any further than necessary,” Edelgard ordered, before gesturing for Byleth to be placed in her arms.

Once the other three had left, Edelgard fell to her knees in a rare show of vulnerability, tears slipping down her face as she held Byleth in her arms.

_She was alive._


	3. Duties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edelgard takes it upon herself to clean Byleth's wounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's somewhat short, but I'm hoping to increase the lengths of the chapters soon!

The sound of water being wrung through a washcloth was all that was heard in the spacious room in which Byleth had been left to rest. There was also very little movement, aside from the light breeze which was blowing at the drawn curtains.

“Lady Edelgard… Is this truly a task which you should be doing? There are staff who could assist…” Hubert stated as he watched Edelgard bring the damp cloth to Byleth’s arm in an attempt to wash away some of the dirt covering her skin. “I could ask for-“

Edelgard sighed, and shook her head. “No,” she stated, careful as she wiped with the cloth to avoid causing further damage to the broken woman’s body. “We need as few people as possible to know that Byleth is still alive. There are Those who Slither in the Dark hidden in our ranks who wish to bring about her end, and for all that we know, Kingdom and Church spies also could be too. Our enemies discovering that she is still alive could result in us losing her for good. I will only permit the Black Eagle Strike Force to see her, and when not fulfilling my duties, I shall be her primary caretaker.”

As much as Hubert wished for Edelgard to not carry out duties which others could be doing, there was solid logic behind what she was saying. It truly would be a catastrophe if the Strike Force’s trump card was to be snatched away as a result of leniency.

“Hubert… If possible, may you wait outside for Linhardt to arrive? I shall be trying to clear away as much blood and dirt from Byleth as possible for when he arrives, as I am aware of his aversion to blood,” Edelgard eventually requested as she dipped the cloth into the water once more. Hubert frowned. She realised then that he had no intention of leaving, so she decided to make her point clearer. “I shall be having to remove her clothing to get to the source of some of her wounds. It would be inappropriate for you to remain here, Hubert.”

“As you wish, my Emperor… I shall be outside the door should you be needing me.”

Once she heard the door click shut, Edelgard let out a deep breath she had been holding in, before removing Byleth’s tattered coat and worn-out shirt. Fortunately, her armour had been removed before she had been placed on the bed, so that was not an obstacle in accessing her wounds.

She rolled up her sleeves, and soaked the washcloth in the water once more to clean the bloodied wounds across Byleth’s chest and stomach. She did her best to be gentle, as once the blood had been removed, there was heavy bruising on her skin. Byleth would be lucky if she didn’t have broken ribs in addition to her arms and legs.

Edelgard could feel guilt building up inside of her as she continued with her task, knowing that this had all happened because Byleth had chosen to follow her. However, this guilt subsided with every small breath which Byleth took whilst she remained in her state of unconsciousness, knowing that it was not her who had pushed the former professor off a cliff. That had purely been the fault of the Immaculate One. Rhea.

Eventually, the water in the basin beside the Emperor was a murky red colour, a combination of the blood and dirt which had been cleaned away. She moved it aside, before going over to a box which was situated near to the door.

Upon hearing about Byleth being alive, it was quickly established that it would not be possible for any of Byleth’s clothes to be recovered from Garreg Mach for now – it would be seen as suspicious, and would alert the invaders within the Empire’s ranks.

Dorothea, who had often approached Byleth with questions about clothes, and had even prepared a dress for Byleth for the Ethereal Moon ball, had gone through the wardrobes at the Mittelfrank Opera Company when she had heard the news. She had provided Edelgard with a small collection of clothes which would not be missed, and guaranteed that they would fit the professor.

After retrieving a simple black dress from the box, Edelgard ever so gently adjusted Byleth’s position to dress her in it.

Her heart ached for the Professor when she was lay back down in the bed. Never before had she seen somebody so strong in such a fragile state, and it was still too early to tell if she would pull through – it was possible that she could yet succumb to her injuries, it just being sheer luck that she had survived those five days under the rubble.

“Professor... No, Byleth...” she eventually whispered, it feeling as though something was in the back of her throat as she tried to get her words out. “I cannot say just how... relieved I am that you did not die during that battle against the Church. Not just in the perspective of a leader... But also from the perspective of a friend. You mean so much to me... And the grief that I felt when you fell, it- it ruined me, though for the others, I could not let it show...”

Slowly, her hand moved over to Byleth’s, and she carefully took it into her own. “Linhardt will be here soon, and with his help, we can heal you... But for now, rest... We cannot lose you again, Byleth. _I_ cannot lose you.”

For a further half an hour, Edelgard remained where she was, holding onto Byleth’s hand and whispering to herself that she would pull through, that she would come out from this stronger, that she was safe.

By the point that Linhardt arrived, the emperor was asleep, her head resting on the sheets beside Byleth’s shoulder. Exhaustion was clear on her face... as were the streaks of tears down her cheeks.

To allow Linhardt to tend to Byleth’s wounds, Hubert carefully lifted Edelgard up into his arms, and carried her to her own chambers to rest. He would have warped her there, if not for the fact that she was likely to wake up if he did so.

“Rest well, Lady Edelgard... Allow us to take care of the Professor in your stead whilst you sleep.”


	4. Favourites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“You never know, you hoping that she will return may be enough to wake her up. You are her favourite, after all.” That was followed up with a wink, and Edelgard’s eyes widening as she shook her head._
> 
> _“Dorothea, please do not tease. It would have been unprofessional for her to pick a favourite!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm only somewhat happy with how this chapter ended up, so there may be a few little edits made at some point before I upload the next part.

Edelgard jolted upward when she woke up. She was coated in a layer of sweat, with her hair plastered to her face. Her heart was pounding, and even as she held her hand against her chest and dug her other fingers into her blankets in an attempt to ease the anxiety coursing through her body, she found no comfort.

Her sleep had been plagued by horrific nightmares of the past, and of what could come in the future.

She had found herself in that place, where she lost her siblings one by one as a result of those horrific experiments that granted her the second crest in her blood. She had been in chains, her body tired and weak. And what’s more, she had not been alone.

It was not her brothers and sisters though. No, it her dear ally and former professor. Her body had still been as broken as she had last seen before falling asleep, but not as a result of being sent off the edge of a cliff, into a pile of rubble. No... _She_ was there.

Archbishop Rhea had been stood over Byleth, that condescending frown of hers on her face. She had said but one sentence before pulling out a sword.

_“You will both die by my hands.”_

It had been as the sword plunged into the Professor’s chest that Edelgard had woken up, and found herself in her own room, in her own bed, rather than at Byleth’s side. She felt a wave of panic flood over her as she tried to fight off her tiredness to return to where she felt that she should have been.

Her legs ended up tangled in her sheets as she moved off her bed, and as such, she fell onto the floor with a loud crash. That led to one of the soldiers who were stationed outside her door (on Hubert’s orders) entering the room, to ensure that no harm had come to the Emperor.

She had been quick to dismiss the soldier after they had helped her up from the ground, then approached her closet in order to change her clothes – it would not do well at all if she were to be seen leaving her room as dishevelled as she currently looked. Not that she cared for appearances at present, all that she cared about was making sure that Byleth was...

Flashes of the nightmare came to the forefront of her mind as she took hold of a shirt, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut to get rid of the vision of the former professor impaled on _her_ sword. It felt far too real...

Once she looked somewhat presentable, Edelgard left her rooms with a frown on her face. A frown which conveyed the message that she did not want to be spoken to unless she says otherwise... Besides, the only ones that she wanted to talk to were her fellow members of the Black Eagle Strike Force.

Silently, she navigated through the halls of the imperial palace towards the room where Byleth was resting. She knew that she could focus on her tasks for the day after checking up on her, and speaking to Linhardt about the extent of the injuries.

Ferdinand and Caspar were the first people she encountered upon reaching the room, with the two of them having opted to stand guard outside. She had raised an eyebrow at this, knowing that people guarding what would otherwise be seen as an innocuous guest room would be seen as suspicious.

“Actually, this was Hubert’s suggestion!” Caspar quickly explained when questioned on what they were doing. “This room is going to be the Black Eagle Strike Force meeting room! It would be bad if someone who _wasn’t_ a member went inside, right Ferdinand?”

Edelgard quickly caught on to what Caspar was hinting at with the grin on his face, so she turned to Ferdinand to make sure that she was receiving the correct message.

“Indeed! And whilst Linhardt and Dorothea are inside discussing faith magic, we are standing outside to make sure that nobody disturbs them.”

Nodding along, Edelgard moved her hand towards the door handle. “Thank you both. Make sure that you both rest, however. I am certain that other members of our group are willing to stand guard for a time.” After speaking, she entered the room, her frown softening into a tired smile as her eyes fell upon Byleth resting in the bed, her wounds now bandaged.

Dorothea was the first out of the two in the room who were conscious to notice her approaching the bed. “Oh, Edie! You’re finally here, thank goodness!” She then turned to Linhardt, and nudged him. “Lin, tell Edie what you noticed...”

Edelgard was confused at what the pair was talking about as she perched herself at the edge of the bed and took one of Byleth’s hands into her own. She almost tuned out the others in the room as she looked at Byleth, who, in spite of her unconscious state, seemed to be in much less pain than when she was brought to Enbarr.

“Yes... I had hoped to discuss it with someone such as Professor Hanneman first, but due to his ties to the Church through the Officer’s Academy, it would be too risky...” Linhardt muttered, taking hold of a book to his side and opening it to a bookmarked page. “I’ve noted a few things about the Professor’s state... Specifically that she reacted well to the healing. More well than a typical person in this sort of state would be in, anyway. I believe that she may not exactly be unconscious... But instead in some sort of healing sleep, which is highly likely to do with her crest and powers supposedly from Sothis, as that is the main stand-out feature I can think about her compared to the average person,” he explained, before holding the book out for Edelgard to take and look through. “If the calculations that I have done are correct, based on the rate that her wounds are healing... She could be awake again soon. I can’t give a specific time frame, but potentially within the next few weeks or months. That’s being optimistic too, people often don’t wake up after these sorts of injuries.”

The emperor's eyes widened at Linhardt's words, before a small sigh escaped her lips. “I would be so happy if she were to wake up soon... But it would not do well to put our hopes up. There is still too much uncertainty, and with the likelihood that the Church is plotting to attack us...”

“Edie... You _are_ allowed to hope, you know? We lost her once to that strange... ‘Zaharas' spell... But she came back to us. Our professor has defied fate already, so we can hope that she will come back to us once more,” Dorothea whispered, taking the book from Edelgard’s hand and taking hold of it between both of her own. “You never know, you hoping that she will return may be enough to wake her up. You _are_ her favourite, after all.” That was followed up with a wink, and Edelgard’s eyes widening as she shook her head.

“Dorothea, please do not tease. It would have been unprofessional for her to pick a favourite!”

“You were the one that she had a tea party with every week, the rest of us were lucky if it was once a month,” Linhardt piped in, reclaiming his book from where Dorothea had placed it. He returned to the other side of the bed, and made a few further notes on one of the pages.

Edelgard gasped at the suggestion made by her former classmate, and shook her head. “W-We were discussing strategies for our class missions at those times!”

“She also gave you extra lessons, Edie~” Dorothea hummed, lifting Edelgard’s hand slightly as she did so.

“Because I asked for-"

“Ferdinand also asked for extra lessons, and she said no to him.”

Edelgard frowned at the repeated comebacks which she was receiving. Had it not been her former classmates and current allies making these remarks, this conversation would have already taken a turn for the worst.

“I also heard rumours that you and the Professor _met_ at the Goddess Tower on the night of the ball! If that does not speak of playing favourites...”

She had no way of responding to that. All that night, she had seen Byleth hovering near to the tower after she had escaped the dance which Claude had so abruptly pulled her out for. Others from the Black Eagles had gone up the tower – but Byleth had only joined _her_ inside. None of the others...

“I... I believe that whether she had favourites should be something that she should say... Not us.”

The room fell into a somewhat awkward silence after this point, and remained that way even as Ferdinand and Caspar joined them, saying that Petra, Hubert, and a reluctant Bernadetta had taken their place guarding the door.

Eventually, Edelgard rose from where she was sat, knowing that she had duties to fulfil, and sitting beside the wounded Byleth would result in them building up. It was as she did this though, that her eyes widened.

Just as she went to release her hold of Byleth’s hand, her fingers had twitched slightly. The small action did not go unnoticed by the others in the room, and the majority of them exchanged surprised looks.

However, the former professor remained in her comatose state.

“I... I must leave. If I were to remain here, nothing shall be accomplished aside from the collapse of the empire,” Edelgard stated, closing her eyes and turning her back before the temptation of sitting down once more overtook her. “Linhardt, please keep me updated... I’m relying on you to keep her alive.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading to this point!!! If there is anything anyone wants to see in this fic, or if there is anything you want me to write, my twitter is @ClaudeEmblem !!


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